Clash for Love
by Lass
Summary: Dark Magician loves someone, but if Dark Magician Girl finds out that the girl wants to kill him, what will happen? Will his apprentice save him, or will he chase her away? r
1. Introduction

Lass: I thought; let's start another story. About Dark Magician Girl especially. I hope you'll like it. Well, let's get started. Oh yeah, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but you probably understand that already...  
  
She was going to kill him. I was sure of it now. She was planning on killing my Master. And I couldn't even tell him! He just wouldn't believe me. He loved her, and she and I hated each other. He would think it was of jealousy. If I told him I loved him, he would for sure.  
  
When he had met her, she was very kind, even towards me. Then, after a month or so, she came to live with us. That was when she started to change. She became mean to me, but to my Master, she was always kind and perfect. She started to tell him things about me. Lies, about how mean I was to her. But it was always the other way around. I knew my Master loved her, so I kept being nice to her, while her jokes became meaner by the day. By then, it was already too late for me to get her away. She had already completely charmed my Master.  
  
We grew to hate each other terribly. But she always won. My Master was always on her side, not knowing she would kill him in the end. I slowly became aware of her plans, so I started to investigate. I found out she had planned on killing him the whole time. I was the only threat. All the time we hated each other and she was getting Master to hate me, she was just trying to get me away from the house of my Master.  
  
I was his apprentice. He had agreed in training me when I was young, and I had been with him for about a year now, of which one and a half month with the bitch. I had started to grow a liking to him, but I only realised that when he came home with... her...  
  
Every morning, he would train me. After that, I could choose what to do. If they were staying home, I would stay too, making sure she wouldn't hurt him. If they were going somewhere, I would usually go to my friends, or take a ride on my mount.  
  
Let me explain that. Here, in the Shadow Realm, everyone with two legs gets a mount. That means, indeed, that my Master and his girlfriend... both had one too. Your mount has to be from the same type as you are which is, in my Master's and my case Dark and in her case Light. I was very good friends with my own. With the Master's, it was kind of the same. When she came, he started to neglect his own mount, which left me to take care of him. I usually took both our mounts for a ride, leaving his to fly with us without someone riding on him. Sometimes, I would, to make sure he wouldn't forget how to fly with a rider on him.  
  
After about two weeks, I also noticed she seemed to do the same thing with her mount. Very busy with charming my Master, she didn't even take a second look at it. So I was there to take care of hers too, taking it with me on my rides, feeding it and brushing it. At first, it seemed to be a frightening creature, but I soon found out that it was truly a nice friend. I guess looks really are deceiving...  
  
I think Master slowly started to hate me, always looking out for them, which he sometimes noticed, and my continually bickering with his girlfriend. He was stricter in the training and shouted to me for every little mistake I made. Also, I think she asked him to, he let me battle her sometimes 'to see how good I was'. At least it was never enough, because the next day, he always made me train harder. Once, when I fell ill, he didn't even let me rest to get better. He just kept training. I started to think that, if I would fall dead on the floor he would've told me to get up and fight on!  
  
I might just as well give you some names now. I'm the Dark Magician Girl, though I prefer to be called Mystery, as my parents called me and as I was called before I became his apprentice and my name was turned into Dark Magician Girl. My lovely mount is called Koumori Dragon. People usually think he's very aggressive and dangerous. I'd love to laugh them in the face. Mori is one of the gentlest mounts I know! He looks really dangerous, and he is if he doesn't know you. I had a very hard time myself to make him trust me. When he finally did, he was the most loyal creature I know. Before she came, Master was always proud of that. When she came, he slowly started to say it wasn't loyalty but strength that matters. I have no idea what she has done with his mind, but I swear I'm going to kill her for it sometime.  
  
My Master's name is, as you probably already had guessed, Dark Magician. He never told anyone his real name, at least not by my knowing. He might have told his pathetic girlfriend... His mount looks very dangerous either, and he is most of the times! But not against the people he likes. He has attacked her a few times. I thought my head would fall off my body, I was laughing so hard. Dark Magician shot me a glare and punished his mount, but I would never forget the look on her face when the Red Eyes Black Dragon, or preferably Blackie for his Master and I, attacked her. Just priceless! She had tried to befriend Blackie, but didn't quite succeed...  
  
The 'she' I'm talking about all the time, my greatest enemy, is called Wingweaver. Stupid name, don't you think? As if she could weave anything, especially wings! If you think that was funny, I'll tell you what name she picked for herself; Pixie! Have you ever heard something as stupid as that? I really want to puke at the moment, right over her head! You have to hear Master when he talks to her. He made her name even shorter and even more ridiculous; Pix... She is practically draped all over him if he calls her like that. Their love stuff is just gross! I hate to say it, but it makes me want to run away screaming. I hope I'll never act like that. Her mount, the one I'm also taking care of, is called Ocubeam. I always call him Furry, because of his huge amount of fur. I have to brush it almost every day to make sure it won't knot, but I like the job. It's really relaxing.  
  
So much for the introduction, don't you think? Or do you want me to introduce my best friend to you, too? I'll just do it. Well, I've told my friend anything. Or better say I told her almost everything. I never told her Pixie wanted to kill my Master. I know she would think I'm just crazy and that I'm going too far with my hate for her. My best friend is the Witch of the Black Forest. The name that was once given to her by her parents was Pearl, so that's how I called her. She had managed to do something very special; she got herself a mount of another type. How she did it is beyond me, you should ask her. But somehow, she had managed to be able to pair up with the Baby Dragon, and being a very good team either! Her parents were so proud! She told me she is secretly in love with Neo the Magic Swordsman, or just Neo, a Light Monster. While she is a Dark. But I think it will work out. I mean, he is clearly in love with her too. I sure hope it will. I'd be so happy for her!  
  
But this doesn't seem like the time for love affairs to me. I mean, my Master has to be killed, and I still have to find out why. But I'll have to hurry. The time is coming closer, but luckily I have the help of Mori and Blackie. I've told Furry he doesn't need to help to bring down his mistress, as long as he doesn't tell her what I'm doing either. I'm sure he won't.  
  
I feel that she is getting desperate. For some reason, he has to be killed soon. But I can't let that happen! To kill my Master, she has to get past me first. I won't make it easy for her, but she seems to have caught Dark Magician in her nets already. I hope I'll be quick enough to act, before he sends me away because of her...  
  
Lass: That's it for now. Please review people. I decided I'll just use flames to burn 'Pixie', so I guess it's no use to send them... Well, of course, I'd read them first, but...  
  
Mystery: Just shut up and get writing on the next chapter, ok? Oh, by the way, this is probably the only chapter written in anyone but the writer's POV.  
  
Lass: See ya! 


	2. Departure

Lass: I finished the second chapter! I hope you'll have fun reading it!  
  
Mystery's alarm went off, telling her to get up for her training with Dark Magician. She knew she'd better not be late, so she got up quickly, putting on her clothes and grabbing something for breakfast on her way out.  
  
When she arrived at the training spot five minutes early, she groaned. Pixie was there too. That meant she had to fight her again... She walked up to the two with a blank face, not showing her disgust for the fairy.  
  
"Dark Magician Girl, you'll fight Pix to see if you became any stronger. If not, your training level will go up. Now, into the arena," he said, looking at her coldly.  
  
Mystery went into the arena and faced Pixie. She always lost, but she knew there was a chance she could win. She always held back against her enemy, not wanting her to know her full strength. It could possibly prove to be useful if she had to fight her to save her Master, who was now watching the both of them get ready.  
  
She used to train with Pearl in the afternoon, making it able for her to know a lot more tricks than anyone gave her credit for. She was a very quick student, something Dark Magician used to complement her with before Pixie. Now, she was acting as if she was the most stupid girl in the Shadow Realm. She always asked herself why he had never noticed.  
  
The girl heard her Master shout the fight could begin and, before she knew it, she was desperately avoiding the aggressive attacks that were fired upon her. She was acting very clumsy and therefore got hit sometimes. She grinned slightly when she managed to burn the tips of Pixies hair, resulting in a horrible smell. Out of revenge, she got hit with a hard hit. She could've avoided it if she had wanted too, but she kept thinking of her rule not to show them her real skills.  
  
On the sidelines, Dark Magician was looking with dismay at his apprentice. She seemed to have gotten worse than ever. When he had first started training her, she had almost been better than this... She had also been able to master the moves he taught her very quickly. Now, she seemed to have forgotten them all.  
  
He winced unnoticeable as his apprentice got hit again, sending her flying into a wall. 'She could've easily countered that one, or avoiding it if she had wanted. Then why doesn't she?'  
  
After about a quarter of fighting, with Mystery hitting Pixie only twice, he decided to stop this. He called for them to stop, but, to his utmost surprise, neither one of them obeyed. Just when he called, Pixie called something to the girl, making them both smile at each other. But it weren't nice smiles...  
  
He saw her try harder, but she just seemed unable to fight Pixie. He heard Pix' cute (A/N: Remember, this is how DM sees it. To DMG it was more like the sound of a chicken laughing if you get what I mean...) laugh as she hit his apprentice once again. Mystery glared at her. 'I won't let her look at Pix like that,' Dark Magician thought. "Mystery, come over here right now!" he shouted at the tired girl.  
  
She dragged herself over to him when something hit her on her back, causing her to stumble forward. When she looked behind her very angry, she saw it had been Pixie who had hit her with one of her wings. "Well, walk on, little one," she said, fake kindly. Mystery hated it to be called little, and her enemy knew it. She was taller than the girl, and made sure the other never forgot that.  
  
"Dark Magician Girl, now! Get yourself over here quickly; else, you'll be punished."  
  
"Tell me, Master, how would you want to punish me even more than you're doing at the moment? Seeing that bitch over there every day is punishment enough, don't you think?" she called, really angry now. He continued being harsh to her, and she had enough of it now.  
  
"How dare you!" her Master cried out. "She is trying to be nice to you every day, yet you always are rude against her!" He walked over to the shaking girl. "I forbid you to see your mount for the next few days! That should be punishment enough for your horrible behaviour!"  
  
Her eyes narrowed in anger. "How would you know?" she sneered. "You haven't seen you mount for days now! How could you probably know what you're doing to me anyways?" And at that, she ran off to the stables where she could find Mori.  
  
After five minutes, used for saddling her mount and explaining what had happened to the others, Dark Magician and Pixie saw the two fly away.  
  
"Do you think she'll be ok?" the male asked the female. "Do you think she'll even come back?"  
  
"I think she can take care of herself perfectly fine, honey. And, even if she can't, why would you care? You've got me now, right?" He nodded absent- mindedly at this. He was somewhere completely else with his thoughts.  
  
"I'm sorry Pix, but I don't feel like being in any company now. You can do something yourself this afternoon; go to the mall or something (A/N: Yes, there's a mall over there. They aren't always walking in their battle outfits, nor do they have nothing to eat)," he said, walking off. Therefore, he didn't saw Pixie smile an evil smile...  
  
She went over to the stables, to her mount. "Ocubeam, we're going for a ride..."  
  
She rode off, oblivious to the gaze of Dark Magician following her. When he was sure she was away, he went to the stables also. His Red Eyes Black Dragon was the only one left there, and it watched up as he heard his Master enter. Then, he put his head back on his paws, acting as if he didn't care. Dark Magician winced.  
  
"Blackie," he said, but it was cut off by the giant dragon when it heard the pet name only Mystery had used for him the past week or so. "Blackie, please..." The dragon glared at him and turned his head off.  
  
Dark Magician noticed the manger of his creature was neatly filled with his daily food. After thinking for about six seconds, he asked his dragon if his conclusion was right. "Red Eyes Black Dragon," he said, not willing to be glared at again. "Did Pix feed you?" He quickly noticed it was probably the wrong question when an attack came flying his way. He raised his staff just in time to build a shield and avoid being burned to a pile of ashes.  
  
"Then who did?" he asked, slightly irritated.  
  
The answer was clearly audible for him, since Blackie roared it out loud. In its own language, yes, but his Master was able to understand it because he was his mount. "What did you think of Myst feeding me, huh? Your 'perfect Pix' doesn't even feed her own mount, let aside me! Now shouldn't you go to make out with her some more? I think I hear her calling you already, 'honey'!"  
  
Blackie was really pissed off. "Now leave before I'm really going to burn you! And never dare show your face in here again!" He shot another, stronger attack at his Master and didn't even look what the last was doing about it. He pulled his head to the side again.  
  
Dark Magician gasped at the closeness of the attack. He was hurt by this, but he also realised he deserved it. He walked out, wandering trough the garden, thinking...  
  
Meanwhile, Wingweaver was flying to the completely dark part of the Shadow Realm, not realising she was being followed by a certain familiar figure on a Koumori Dragon.  
  
She landed at a dark castle and got off her mount. "Stay," she snarled at him as she walked inside the gates. She got into a giant hallway and, luckily knowing where to go, she went to the right immediately, resulting into her walking up a stairway. After lots of stairs, she came to a door. She knocked.  
  
"Come inside," she heard a raw voice. Pixie smiled when she entered. She bowed very deep for the person that was waiting for her there.  
  
"Magician of Black Chaos," she said very respectfully. When she looked up, she saw him sitting there indeed, on his big throne, petting his Red Eyes Metal Dragon.  
  
"Pixie... How is your job going?" he asked, none of them knowing there was someone else listening at the window. Mystery had put an invisibility spell on herself; one of the very useful tricks Pearl had learned her.  
  
"It is going pretty well, Master. It's just... that girl. She is hard to get rid of. I think she knows I'm planning on killing him. But, Master...?" she started to ask, waiting for permission to speak the words that were on her mind.  
  
"What is it that you want to ask me, Pix?" he said. 'He is using the pet name Dark Magician always used for this treacherous whore,' the Magician's apprentice thought angered.  
  
"I'd really like to know why I have to kill him, Master. I mean, this is a hard job with that girl getting in the way all the time, and it would really help me if I knew what I would do it for..."  
  
Mystery heard the Dark Lord snicker at this. "You really need to know, don't you? You ask me this all the time... But, since you'll have to kill him tonight, I'll tell you. Listen careful, for I won't repeat myself. Of all the monsters in the Shadow Realm, he and his Red Eyes Black Dragon are the only real threat. I want to rule, and they're the only ones who can prevent me from doing just that. I can't just go up to them to kill them, for there is some way he always manages to prevent me from finishing him off. Therefore, you deceive him and then kill him. Then, my powers can be conquered by no one! I'll be the Lord of the whole Shadow Realm and you'll be my queen. But only if you manage to kill him tonight! Tonight, my powers will be the strongest. I will be able to defeat all of the other Monsters that can possible be a threat later on. Our power can never be undone!"  
  
They both started to laugh happily at that happy foresight, but Mystery was so shocked her invisibility spell faded for a moment. It faded for a moment too much, for way below her, she heard shouts, indicating she had been seen. She heard wings move and coming up to her. She told her dragon to get out of there, but it was too late.  
  
She was attacked by flocks of birds, pecking and shrieking. That noise caused the Magician of Black Chaos to get out of his seat to watch what was causing the noise that interrupted his evil laugh. He turned back to Pixie and smirked. "She is indeed hard to get rid of..."  
  
His female companion gasped. "You mean she's here?" she shrieked. She ran over to the window to watch. Her eyes widened in shock, but soon, a sly smile appeared on her face. "I've got an idea..."  
  
She quickly flew down using her wings (A/N: Yes, she can use them, but it's way slower that flying on her mount...) towards her mount. "Quick, get to the Dark Magician Girl!" The mount obeyed quickly.  
  
She ordered the birds to leave and, because she was a very important person, they obeyed. Mystery didn't even have any strength to do anything about it when Pixie started to pull her to go to Dark Magician's house.  
  
When they arrived, Dark Magician came running up to them. "Pix, what happened?" he asked the fairy.  
  
"Well, I found her when she was attacked by these birds, so I decided to help her. I, being more powerful than she is, fired an attack at those birds. They quickly left after that, and I took your apprentice home," she lied.  
  
Mystery reacted just as Pixie had hoped she would. "No! That's a lie! That's not how it happened! I was attacked by those birds because of her and..." She got interrupted by a very angry Dark Magician.  
  
"How dare you! She saved you and you dare blame her?"  
  
"But..."  
  
"She just hates me, so she makes it up! After all I've done for her!" Some fake tears slowly started to roll down her cheeks.  
  
"You worthless apprentice! Why have I ever accepted someone like you in the first place? Leave, and never show your face here again!"  
  
Mystery was staring at him in shock. Her eyes watered, but she wouldn't cry in front of him. "Fine... I'll leave," she just said as she turned around and flew away on her dragon, leaving the two to stare at her disappearing back.  
  
'I don't even want to return! Save your own sorry ass!' was her last thought as she disappeared in the distance...  
  
Lass: That's it for now! If you want me to update, please review! 


	3. Fight

Lass: Hi there, sorry for not updating for so long, but I really need to keep my grades up. In a few weeks, I'll be updating much more, promise!  
  
Dark Magician was looking at the horizon where his apprentice had disappeared, worried. He was already regretting his words.  
  
"Thank you, honey. You did the right thing. I can't understand why she hates me this much. I only tried to help her..." She stopped sniffing. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's try to forget this sad moment and play some game or something."  
  
"A game?" Dark Magician asked, surprised.  
  
"Tag! You're it!" she called, hitting him playfully and running off. Dark Magician stared for a while, but then, a smile appeared on his face as he ran after her. Soon, he saw her again while she was running at the field behind his house. He ran up to her, but when he was about to tag her, she fell on the ground, letting out a painful cry. Dark Magician kneeled down besides her.  
  
"Are you all right, Pix?" he asked, worried. She went her head to him and they stared into each others eyes. He leaned towards Pixie to kiss her. He put down his staff, and that was when his so-called girlfriend saw her great chance.  
  
Suddenly, Pixie sat up and grabbed his staff. She smiled at him as she pointed with her hand. Heavy chains appeared, nailing Dark Magician to the ground tightly.  
  
"Pix, what's this for sort of game? Release me," Dark Magician said.  
  
"That's Pixie for you," she said cruelly. She got up from the ground, now towering over him.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, I'm no longer Pix for you," was her answer. He didn't understand this anymore. He was looking clueless, while struggling to get free.  
  
"What are you doing? I thought this was a game..."  
  
She laughed evilly. There was no nice feeling behind it anymore. "This has ever been a game, Dark Magician, and I'm going to end it now!" Dark Magician was still in the chains, and there was nothing he could do now. She had pointed her hand and his staff at him, and she was preparing to attack. "Oh, how I love to see you this helpless, Magician."  
  
"Wingweaver, what's going on?" he asked her, now sternly. If this was a game, he didn't like it. No, he didn't like it at all...  
  
"You still don't get it, do you? I'm about to kill you, Magician, and... I don't think you're able to do anything against it..." she said, pointing his staff at the chains, throwing her hair behind her back with her hand.  
  
"Kill me? All right, I want an explanation right now!" His eyes narrowed in anger. He hated it to be unable to do anything but talk.  
  
"Tell me, honey..." She said the last with a mean tone in the background of her voice. "Does the name 'Magician of Black Chaos' sound familiar to you?" she continued. "It just has to..."  
  
"Dissar," he growled his voice low and aggressive. "That piece of shit sent you? You're working for him?"  
  
"You really thought I loved you, did you? How pathetic! You completely forgot about him when you saw me. I don't look very dangerous, do I? You should really not just rely on what you see. I thought you, out of all people, would know... You've got that useless Blackie of yours; very dangerous at first sight, but if you get to know it better, it's very nice, right?"  
  
The hopeful glitter that appeared in his eyes at that was answered with a smirk. "Oh yes, we'll have to deal with him too..."  
  
She raised the staff, smiling at the irony. She was going to take care of his mount with the staff that used to be his. She pointed to the stables and, to Dark Magician's surprise, her own Ocubeam was floating in the air next to his Blackie, struggling to get free out of the purple colour that surrounded them. When she saw the look on his face, she started talking again. "Yes, that's surprising, isn't it? He decided to choose your side, so I'll have to handle him too."  
  
When they were still a pretty big distance away from their riders, Pixie put them to the ground, chains forming around them too. They now could see what was happening, but they too were unable to do something against it.  
  
"Now back to you, Dark Magician. Should I play with you for a little longer or should I kill you now? Aw well, playing is just so much more fun..."  
  
Dark Magician's struggles got stronger. "Free me now! At least let me battle him in a real fight! Why won't the coward battle me himself?"  
  
"Ha! Threats aren't going to make me to free you! I've got the upper hand now, and I'd like to keep it that way. For no one can save you now anymore! Your pathetic Dragon is kind of clung to the ground at the moment, and you sent away the only other one that knew about this all!"  
  
"What? What do you mean? Who... Mystery?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, Dark Magician," she said, smiling. "Your apprentice didn't trust me from the beginning. Eventually, she found out. This afternoon, she got to hear the whole story when she followed me to my Master's castle. I guess she was just about to tell you when you sent her away..."  
  
"But... Why didn't she tell me before?"  
  
"Would you have believed her, Magician? Honestly, would you have...? You wouldn't have, would you?" She smirked at him. His expression changed into regret and his struggles ceased. "You wouldn't have, until it would be too late. You know why I have to kill you tonight, don't you? Yes, I know you do. I'll just end it right now..."  
  
"You treacherous whore! You're really a piece of shit! I hate you!"  
  
"Aw, just a few hours ago you told me you'd always love me... I guess it's my own fault you won't. For you shall die for scolding the future queen of the Shadow Realm!"  
  
She raised both her hand and Dark Magician's staff. Both began to glow black. Pixie pointed them at him. "Farewell, Gaèll!"  
  
He saw the dark beams coming closer, about to hit...  
  
They disappeared into thin air. Pixie gasped in shock as they both stared at the spot where the deadly attack had just been.  
  
"Did you really think you could get rid of me this easily, 'Pix'? You can't possibly have..." As they looked up at the voice they saw Mystery standing there, her own staff raised. In a flash, they noticed Mori had gone to the other mounts.  
  
"Come on, you should really give him a chance to fight you, shitty fairy. Or are you just too much of a coward to do that?" Mystery teased.  
  
She had returned, but she didn't exactly know why. He had sent her away while she had only tried to help him, and yet she still cared. She had found herself feeling very sad as she flew away, and for some reason, she just didn't want to let him die, or get hurt for that matter. (A/N: Guess which reason it is! If you can't guess, watch the main category this story is in.)  
  
"How dare you..." the Wingweaver growled. "I challenge you to a fight for his life! You have no choice but to be locked to the ground too or accept my challenge!"  
  
"I guess not..." The apprentice seemed to be really cool under it. "So, shall we get started then?"  
  
The fairy's eyes narrowed when she noticed her threats weren't even close to frightening the girl. She quickly attacked, only to see her attack being avoided by her opponent. She quickly shot with Dark Magician's staff then, which was immediately countered.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, Pix. You've got two weapons and I've got only one. I guess we'll have to make that even, don't you?" She raised her staff and a very fast beam came out, aiming for the staff in the fairy's left hand. Before Pixie could even blink her eyes, the staff was flying through the air. It landed on the grass with a soft thump. "There. I think we're even now, don't you?"  
  
Then, they started the real battle between them. The angry Wingweaver was now fighting a pretty calm Dark Magician Girl. Both Pixie and Dark Magician, or Gaèll as you probably already understood, were completely stunned when Mystery proved to be very well able to fight the fairy without having any trouble, while Pixie got hit time after time.  
  
"How can this be? You're supposed to lose big times! You're much weaker than I am! How can this be?" Pixie screamed, very terrified. She was now unable to move because of a paralyzing beam shot by the younger girl.  
  
"You just told my Master to 'not just rely on what you see'. You really forget the lessons you teach others very quickly..." Mystery said slyly. The fairy was terrified now. She was a lot weaker than her opponent, but she only realized that now, when it was too late to turn back...  
  
"No!" she screamed loudly. "This can't be happening! I can't be losing! This was never supposed to happen! Dissar!" She screamed the name of the spellcaster, in hopes he would save her.  
  
"Truth to be told, Pixie, I do feel sorry for you now." Mystery answered the questioning look of her enemy with a look that contained only pity towards the powerless creature.  
  
Tears formed in Pixies eyes. "I don't need your pity! I will beat you!" She quickly flew up again and threw a destroying beam at the surprised girl, whose eyes narrowed.  
  
"If you want to have it that way..." she hissed, "you can have it that way." Instead of making the beam disappear or avoiding it, she now threw a beam back into it. "Let's see who's stronger, shall we?" Pixie put all of her strength in it, desperately wanting to beat the girl and kill her for the humiliation she had put her trough. "  
  
Mystery decided to finish this quickly, not willing to spend her powers to something as easily to be done as this. One second, she sent a huge blast of magic, which ended Pixies attack pretty swiftly and effectively. She saw the beam of energy approaching her, quickly closing in. She closed her eyes, screaming. "Dissar!" Then, the beam hit her.  
  
She screamed incoherently, tormented by the beam, which was only meant to cause immense pain to the one it hit. Because of the force of it, she fell to the ground, where she lay panting, even when the beam didn't hit her anymore. The afterpain was still tormenting her. Pixie was out of the competition.  
  
Then, Mystery looked at her Master, who was still unable to move. Then, he did something that surprised her; he looked away. He didn't dare to look at her after all she had done for him, and how he had repaid her for that. She got a strange feeling in her stomach; as if her insides were squeezed together by some unknown force. Something just wasn't right.  
  
He saw her frowning when she pointed her staff at him, about to make the chains disappear, when her head shot up. He narrowed his eyes, surprised, when he heard a sound coming from the spot where the mounts were chained. He looked just in time to see Mori get chained up by a beam too. He heard a whooshing sound approaching him too. He turned his head again, but he had to shut his eyes because of the flashing light.  
  
When he opened them again he noticed her apprentice standing there, staff raised. She had countered the attack, and he realized it was probably aimed for her in the first place. Gaèll noticed her looking at something in the air. Slowly, he looked up too, already knowing what would be there. Or rather said, who...  
  
"Ah, my old friend, how nice it is to see you again, especially under these circumstances. I must say those chains look nice on you, Gaèll..." a sly voice spoke.  
  
"I have to say I don't really enjoy it as much as you do, Dissar. I prefer being able to look straight at you, instead of having to look up. But I figure you like it more this way," he answered, his voice almost being able to freeze the fires of hell.  
  
"Yes, I figured. You're very vulnerable now, you know? I could kill you with one shot. Two, actually. One would have to be used to get your little apprentice out of my way and the second one for to finish you off." He looked at Mystery now. Dissar smirked when he noticed the girl glare at him. He saw her flinching when his smirk grew wider as he checked her body out.  
  
The Dark Magician looked angrily at his enemy, who was now closing in, flying on his Red Eyes Metal Dragon. His eyes narrowed when he saw the guy looking at Mystery lustfully. "Leave her alone, Dissar. I'm warning you..." But he only laughed at the threat.  
  
"Else what? You're really unable to do anything about it, aren't you? Or are you suddenly able to break free out of those chains without any magic at all?" he countered, getting closer. His mount landed on the ground and he got off. "I can do with your apprentice what I want..."  
  
"How dare you! Just free me and fight me, you chicken! You don't dare to do that, do you? You're afraid of me!" To his surprise, the Magician of Black Chaos smirked at him.  
  
"I don't quite have time for this, you know. Your little diversion won't work. Not on me. You know I have to do this tonight, but you won't distract me long enough. I know that's all you're trying to do. Because, if the red moon fades" he looked in the air, the radiant moon shining on them "my powers will fade and I won't be able to get King of the Shadow Realm. So I guess your time is up..."  
  
Dark Magician's glare was not wavering as he looked at the power-mad freak. "You won't succeed either way..." he predicted.  
  
"We'll see about that," was his answer. Dissar raised his staff, grinning. "I'll destroy your puny self."  
  
Then, they were interrupted. "Over my dead body." They both looked at the person who had said this, the one surprised, the other mad as well amused. Mystery had stepped in between them, looking determined.  
  
"Why, we've got a deal then," Dissar said seductively. He fired a beam quickly, hoping to catch the girl by surprised. Too bad, it didn't work on her. Her counter attack didn't only make his beam bounce off, but it also hit his own mount, which was chained up too now. To everyone's surprise, she snickered.  
  
"You were trying to chain me up too? What are you trying to do? Chain everyone up over here? Well, I guess you just missed your target..." she said as she smiled innocently at him. This pissed him off. That was rare for him, because he was not easily pissed off. He was usually sarcastic, sadistic, retorting comments, but this girl really seemed to be able to get him angry.  
  
Gaèll winced as he saw the eyes of his arch enemy narrow. He had never seen him mad, so he didn't know what he would do now. He could guess what would come first, though. The guy would first try to regain his composure and throw something back at the girl...  
  
"My, my, aren't we subtle? That was nothing yet. You haven't felt the full force of my powers yet..."  
  
His apprentice would answer with another comment...  
  
"I guess not. Well, come on then. Show me those 'super powers' of yours and stop standing there bragging like a complete idiot."  
  
He would answer with an attack and more words...  
  
"There, did you like that? What do you think of my powers now, pathetic little slut?"  
  
She would counter sarcastically with another comment...  
  
"There wasn't much to like when I was finished with that puny beam of you, was there? And by the way, I don't think you have any right to say that I'm a slut, since I'm still a virgin and I think for sure you're not one, considering all those nicely 'dressed' females at your castle I saw..."  
  
He would answer angrily, losing his composure...  
  
"Well, one would really not think you're still a virgin if he looks at those sultry clothes you're wearing!"  
  
She would retort his comment again with a sharp one of herself...  
  
"I would really not talk about my choice of clothing considering the junk you're wearing. Really, if I were a man, I would never pick clothes with that kind of pink-purple-like rings on it, let alone such a clown's hat."  
  
He would be just able to keep his cool attitude, but it would be clear she was playing with fire...  
  
"How dare you... It surprises me you even dare to look at me, little whore you are. I would watch what you're saying. I know more about you than you think. You know, you have a pretty... interesting history. I bet you didn't tell your so-called 'Master' that when he took you as his apprentice, did you, you dirty bitch?"  
  
And she would cross the line...  
  
"No, I didn't, because it was of no importance in that case, and it still isn't at the moment. That is, unless it is of great importance for you to bring that memory up, of course. What you seem to forget in that case is that it is at your disadvantage at the moment. After all, it says more about you than about me, right?"  
  
Dark Magician found himself unable to speak or scream when Magician of Black Chaos charged at Dark Magician Girl, seemingly completely lost his mind. What was going on here? What were they talking about? What was there that she hadn't told him?  
  
But, realizing he had better things to do now than thinking, he started to pull the chains again, trying to break loose, watching the fight in the meantime. He could now see the result of anger in Dissar's fighting. He had completely lost control and became reckless, only caring about shooting powerful, slow beams. The accuracy was nowhere to be found.  
  
Mystery had an easy time avoiding all of the beams while she shot small, teasing beams at Dissar time after time, and annoying him to no end. This went well for a while. She didn't get tired, for her condition was very good, but he seemed to be worn out after a while. It was then she noticed the moon moving towards the horizon once again, telling her it was almost morning.  
  
Dissar noticed it too, trough the veil of anger. 'How dare she? I have to finish this now, or else, all my years of waiting will be all for nothing!' He pointed his staff at Gaèll, who was on the other side of the field now, and shot a very strong pitch black ball of dark energy. He smirked when he heard the apprentice's scream of terror. She would never be able to save him. Any strong attack would be too slow, and every fast attack would be too weak.  
  
Mystery saw him shoot, and she screamed. Acting on an impulse, she turned her back at Dark Magician. She saw his face when she did. It was... almost calm, as if accepting there wasn't anything his apprentice could do. But there was...  
  
To everyone's surprise, the Dark Magician Girl shot a very powerful blast at a rock right behind her. The impact caused her to fly backwards very hard... Right into the energy ball's way...  
  
The ball was flying towards Gaèll when the girl came in its way. She held up her staff and tried to create a shield against the destructive power of the blast. Then, there was nothing but darkness...  
  
Lass: Long chappie, and... cliffie! Review and I'll update this! I love reviews! Maybe you have some cool ideas too? Tell me! 


	4. Surprises

Lass: Okay, I can say a lot. I had a writer's block, I started the chapter and I went the wrong way with it, causing me to end up losing inspiration, my computer was being a bitch. It's all true, but that's not what you want to read. I apologize for the long wait, hoping you'll be able to forgive me, and I present to you; a new chapter. I'm telling you I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh and I sincerely hope that you like the chapter.

…

"Mystery!" Gaèll screamed. The ball had completely devoured his apprentice and was now hanging in the air, at the exact place she had just been when she flew in. He knew how this ball worked. It would slowly destroy the creature within, slowly and painfully. But, to his surprise, he heard no screaming from the ball.

Everything was just silent as everyone was looking at it, shocked. Neither one of them had expected the girl to do this. This would take her life in the end, and nothing would be able to stop that. And she knew that.

Gaèll started pondering inside his head. Why had she done that? She knew what kind of ball that was! He had taught her in one of their first lessons as Master and Apprentice, when he told her to always try and avoid those attacks for they were so painful and would always kill the target. He had even let her feel the pain for only one second and she had fallen to the ground crying, shivering from the pain. She had pled for him to stop it when he had already done that, and had been sick the following days. But now, she had jumped in front of one! One that would truly devour her in the end and would give her lots more of pain…

"Ra, what have I done?" he whispered. "Someone… Help her, please." The ball had started to turn around and around, and he knew the ball would get trough her shield in a few moments. If you were looking very good, you would be able to see her inside, crumbled, surrounded by a shield which was slowly eaten away by the dark energy.

A tear slipped out of his eye, unseen by anyone, when the shield disappeared and the energy reached for his apprentice. Then, it got to her…

A heart-piercing scream erupted from the Dark Magician Girl. Dark Magician slumped on the ground as it continued. It hurt him so much to hear her scream like that. "No," he whispered.

"Calm down, Gaèll, you'll be next. But first, I want you to see her die… because of you!" Dissar started to laugh maniacally.

His head shot up, showing his eyes, who were trying to keep tears inside, but failing, and glaring at his enemy. He started to pull the chains once again, but he was unable to speak. More tears rolled down his face as the screaming and the laughing continued. This was pure torture for his soul.

Then, there were sounds from where the mounts were. "I don't think so, you big bully," a female voice called. When the two males turned to look who it was, all they saw was an empty spot where the mounts had been chained before.

When the invisibility spell faded, the mounts were close to Dissar, attacking him. He managed to avoid being hit just in time, but the three creatures didn't stop attacking him. Meanwhile, Gaèll felt his own chains let him go. He looked surprised at the girl in front of him, sitting on a Baby Dragon.

She turned to face the Magician of Black Chaos, attacking him with a spell. Because he was trying to get away from the three angry creatures, he didn't see it coming until it was too late. He was now the one who was chained to the ground, and the three creatures were watching over him closely. Another beam hit the still shivering Wingweaver, and then she, too, was chained tightly to the ground. Then she faced Gaèll once more.

The young girl pointed at the form of Dark Magician Girl. "Think of something," she said desperately. "There has to be some way to save her…"

He shook his head. Introductions would come later, just like finishing off Dissar. He had to somehow save his apprentice first, before she'd be dead. But he didn't know if there was a way to do so. From what his former master had told him, there was no way to escape it.

But, he realized, he also had said that it would attack immediately, and there was no way to use magic in it. And Dark Magician Girl had managed to keep up a shield for some time. Therefore, there had to be ways around it.

And idea struck him, but he wasn't sure if it would work. When another scream tore through the air, though, he decided he just had to try. He stepped towards her, closely followed by the other girl. "Form a shield around the two of us," he ordered. She obeyed without questioning him, wanting nothing but to save the young girl that was now only whimpering.

Gaèll touched the ball with his wand. While trying to keep the darkness where it was and stopping it from going further up the wand, he tried to get to his apprentice with it. It took a lot of his strength, and warding off the darkness tired him. But this was his only chance, and he pushed on, using small bolts of energy to get rid of the darkness. The tip of his ward finally touched the small girl.

Small streams of sweat were running down his face while he slowly tried to form a shield around her. He gave up on trying stopping the darkness from crawling up his own ward, trusting the other girl to shield him from it.

That was when he felt his magic wrap itself around his apprentice. She was using her own magic to support his. Now that he had a closed circle and only had to focus on keeping the darkness out of it, it was easier. He allowed his apprentice to regain some of her strength, for he knew he'd need her strength, too, if he wanted to get her out of this.

His strength was still bigger than hers, and he was able to keep up the shield. The other girl's strength was enough to protect the both of them from the energy that tried to get to them, and the mounts were watching the chained Magician of Black Chaos and his mount closely.

It had been painful when the energy had attacked her, and she was sure she was going to die. When she felt the familiar energy trying to reach her and form a shield around her, though, Mystery realized that her Master was once again able to fight and now trying to help her. She used her energy to allow his to form a shield around her before she slowly tried to recover herself. Her best friend had taught her some useful recovery spells, and she used a few of the easier once to remove the cold from her body. She was still shivering, but with a swift spell, she covered that up for the time being. The longer her Master had to keep up this shield, the weaker he'd become, and the smaller her chance to escape.

Mystery nodded, not opening her eyes. She felt the powers of her Master grow stronger as he tried to get an opening for her to come out. She focused on her wand and helped him. While he focused on making sure the darkness didn't close in any more, she slowly made the hole bigger, until it was big enough for her slender body to get out. She swiftly did so, while she felt her Master's strength now pushing her further outside. When she fell to the ground, his powers enveloped the ball and kept it at its spot.

They saw the young girl fall out, and while Gaèll focused on slowly destroying the ball, the other girl let the shield fall. The ward didn't touch the ball any longer, so there was no danger of it attacking him anymore. Instead, she ran to the other girl.

The Dark Magician saw the girl running to his apprentice, and he overheard them talking.

"Hey, are you all right? I'm so sorry I didn't believe you," the other one said.

Dark Magician Girl put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her weakly. "You came eventually, Pearl. There's nothing to forgive. I know it sounded rather incredible."

They hugged. "I'm so glad I was on time. If I hadn't come at all, who knows what would have happened?" Pearl said, shuddering. Mystery nodded at her.

"I know. That was a very close one." She then shivered once more, no longer keeping up the simple spell. She was very pale, and her usually pink tinted cheeks and lips were almost blue. "It's cold," she whispered softly. "It enters you, and it's so cold." She made herself smaller, as if that would warm her up. Pearl looked at her worriedly, and Gaèll was looking with a frown on his face.

Pearls hands glowed slightly before she touched Mystery with them. The spell formed and invisible cloak around her, keeping her away from the normal cold. In the meanwhile, Pearl made another spell enter her body to drive out the evil energy that had come into her body.

While she was doing that, Gaèll finished off the ball. Slowly, it got smaller before disappearing completely. He sighed in relief when he saw the sun rise at that very same moment and heard Dissar scream in disappointment. The biggest danger was now gone, and he was just as strong as his opponent once again. He turned towards his apprentice and her, from what he'd gathered, friend. To his relief, she looked better than she had before. Her face was slowly regaining its normal colour, and she was shivering less.

She stopped Pearl from continuing. Mystery knew that it took quite some strength from her, and she'd recovered enough to think clearly again. The rest would come, eventually. But Dissar and Pixie were still there, and they had to be dealt with. With the help of her friend, she got up.

Her Master was standing on her right side, her friend on her left. Somehow, she managed to keep standing. They faced the Magician of Black Chaos, who was still chained and looking very pissed off. The mounts that had watched over him now came to them. Neither Blackie nor Furry paid any attention to their real masters as they nuzzled Mystery. She giggled and went to sit on Mori, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stand for long at the moment. Blackie stayed by her side, and Furry did too. Pearl also mounted her mount, leaving the Dark Magician on the ground.

Gaèll was slightly disappointed that his mount seemed to have forgotten all about him, but he realized with a stab of pain that he had done exactly the same when there had been someone else. He walked up to Dissar, who glared up at him from the ground.

"Are you going to kill me now, Gaèll?" he spat.

The Dark Magician smirked at him. "Are you kidding me?" he asked him. "I'm not going to lower myself to your pitiful level, Dissar. I'm better than that. I'll give you an honest chance to fight me in person."

The other let out a barking laugh. "Are you sure of that? You just used a lot of power on freeing your foolish apprentice. Are you sure you can beat me?" He looked carefully for any visible reactions at his words, but found none. His old friend just looked down at him in disgust. He couldn't believe that once they had been friends.

They both stared one another in the eye, neither willing to give in and lose. But Gaèll had an advantage. Dissar was still on the ground, and chained. He had nothing to base superiority on, really.

It was for that reason that he lowered his gaze eventually, only to look up in Mystery's direction. He glared at her and smirked when she winced under his look. Gaèll noticed this too, and he drew the attention of his enemy back to himself. "Have you really stooped this low, Dissar? Are you really that desperate to show at least some superiority?" he asked him harshly. It worked, and the attention was on him once more.

Dissar snarled at him. "You're asking me? You're going to wish you had never messed with me again," he said while looking at the ground. But while the magician thought it was him he was talking about, high up in the sky a girl shivered at those words. No one but the Koumori Dragon below her noticed this, however, as they were all focused on what was going on below them.

The young apprentice held on to her mount tightly, desperately looking for some kind of comfort. This whole night had been so tiring to her, and she wanted nothing more than to be hugged and told that everything would turn out to be all right, that no one would hurt her, that her Master had total control of the situation and that there was no danger anymore. But she knew better, even though she wished she didn't. Her fatigue made her all the more vulnerable to whatever would happen, and she was sure it wouldn't be good. Dissar always had some way to make things only worse.

Now, however, he was quite helplessly chained to the ground, unable to do anything but to try to throw them off guard with comments and expressions, while at the same time his old friend was in control, and not easily distracted from his job.

"Master, watch his right hand!" Mystery screamed, just in time for him to notice and counter the attack that would have freed Dissar. He cursed under his breath at being caught and turned towards the girl that had ruined his plan.

Knowing that this would not be pretty, the young girl whimpered, too soft for anyone but her mount to hear, and held on even tighter. Mori made a small reassuring sound, telling her that whatever he would throw at her, he would be there for her. This was heard by her friend and her master, though, and they couldn't help but wonder what she hadn't told them about her past.

Before anyone could even react, Dissar managed to cut the chains loose. He was, however, not rid of the binding spell Gaèll had put on him to keep him in one place, this causing him to be able to stand up straight, but not move from his spot. The only one who could release him from it was the one who had put the spell on him, and even though Dissar could attack and cast spells, he would need to make Gaèll release him in order for him to be able to dodge spells instead of having to counter them.

"You think you've won, don't you? Everything is perfect now. I can't get away and my mount and my assistant are still chained to the ground because of your spells. You're the great hero; you made sure I wouldn't kill your beloved master, you won the battle, and you're even still alive. Let me tell you this; it's far from over. But something tells me you know that. Perhaps it's the paleness of your face, or the way you are trying to get your mount to support you. Either way, you know."

The others weren't making a sound while he was talking, and he smirked. "You see how they don't try to stop me from speaking? They are curious. What could cause you to be so afraid of me? You can almost see them ask it. But instead, they let me talk, hoping that I will eventually tell them. Not caring that it takes so much from you to let me, they allow me to talk on and frighten you, hoping that I will finally say what exactly I mean. And I will. But who knows how long that is going to take? After all, I am never one to go for the direct approach. But of course, you must've noticed that. No wait; you know it. You are very well aware of it. Piece by piece I will tell them, and piece by piece you will be destroyed."

He stopped, apparently contemplating what to say next. In reality, he allowed both Gaèll and Pearl to think about what they were going to do. Both were undeniably curious about what was going on. There had to be something, or else Mystery wouldn't look like that. But at the same time, this was indeed taking a toll on the girl. And there was still the question if they even wanted to know what he meant. Apparently, it wasn't a good thing.

Curiosity won in the end, and they didn't tell Dissar to shut up. Said guy smirked slightly when he noticed this, and he decided not to talk about stopping him anymore. If anything, he had to make sure they wouldn't look at the girl in the first part of what he was going to say.

"We've both changed over the years, haven't we? We are different from how we were before. But the past can't be forgotten, and I'm sure we both haven't done that. For how could we forget? It was so beautiful. Or at least, to me it was. To you, I don't think it was that beautiful. I don't really care anyhow. We all know that I don't care about anyone, and I certainly don't care about someone from the past. Because people change. You've changed, I've changed. And in the end, it doesn't really matter. For no matter how much you change, your past will keep haunting you. I will keep haunting you."

They didn't look at Mystery once, who was now shaking. Her fatigue made her very vulnerable to what he was saying, and he knew it. Dissar used this to the maximum as he went on.

"You've grown stronger, but not strong enough. You never will be strong enough. Do you know why? Because there is no possibility for you to forget. And you will never die. Not that you can't, but you won't allow it. Let me ask you one question; when you were inside that attack, did you wish that it would just do its job and end your life? How did you feel when your master's energy started to surround you? I know the answer. You were disappointed. You didn't get away from me, and the memories can't be locked away by a spell. And you don't want to tell anyone about it, making sure that they can't help you either. I know you, I still do. And you are about to give up."

The last sentence was whispered, and she winced. No one tried to stop him, and even though they didn't know it, it was like telling her they didn't care about her. Dissar had told them that he would destroy her before they would know what was happening, and they didn't stop him.

It was at that moment, however, that she gave in. Even though Dissar gave them one more chance to stop him, they didn't. They had given up on her.

Telling her mount to fly to the ground, she got the attention of everyone else. Slowly, she walked up to him, until she was just out of reach. There she stood still, facing him. They looked one another in the eye, fighting their own battle. Unlike her Master, however, the Dark Magician Girl didn't give him the look that told him that he was still chained and therefore unable to harm her. Instead, she faced him as if he was standing there as free as she was. And while no one else noticed, three mounts gave her a nod, telling her that they'd be there for her, even if no one else was.

Still facing him, she spoke up. "Your words hurt me like only you are able to. I have indeed not forgotten, but I did get over it to some extent. I am no longer that easy to break as I used to be, and I am no longer the girl I used to be. I may look like her, I may talk like her, I may be like her in many ways, but I don't think like she used to. My name is now Mystery, showing you that I no longer am her, and never will be again. I got away, back to my parents, and I changed. I have sworn to myself to never be like that again, and I won't be."

She was shaking, but it wasn't from despair. The girl was just very tired, and having to show strength like this took a lot from her. But it had the desired effect. He was surprised and staring at her as if she was a ghost. This was indeed not the girl he used to know, and they were both aware of it. She would never have dared to stand up to him like that.

There was one last chance to break her. If that wouldn't work, it would be over.

"Kneel, Dilemma."

Both Gaèll and Pearl looked on, surprised by the whole thing. But this last comment was the thing that surprised them most. It was a command given to slaves, who were only owned by Monsters that dared to ignore the law. For slaves weren't allowed, and the punishment was bad. They looked at the girl, wondering what she would do.

After hearing that command, her eyes widened. It was long ago since she heard that name, and even though she had expected it, the command it was given with managed to surprise her anyhow. And when the magical whip appeared to punish her for not obeying, she gasped in surprise.

Memories came back to her, where the whip would strike when she once again tried to get away. The face of the same man that was now in front of her came back, telling her to obey him or be punished severely. She heard him tell her that he put a spell on her, which was saved for extremely disobedient slaves, which would automatically start punishing her if she didn't do what she was told to do. And finally, she saw the sky again. The moon was blue in the sky, the moment where his old friend would be stronger, and the moment he was the weakest, just like the other way around when the red moon was in the sky. It was that day that she ran away, somehow managing to deform the spell enough to be only able to work when he was near. After running back to her old house, she had told her parents what had happened after the day the men had raided the village they lived in and took her with them to serve their master.

They had moved away from there, and he hadn't been able to find her. And then, when her parents couldn't teach her anymore about magic, they had decided to have her train with a master. It had been the Dark Magician that would train her, and even though she had been slightly afraid of him at first, he had proven to be different.

And now, once again, she felt the magical whip telling her to obey his command. But she kept standing, and she didn't lower her gaze from his face.

"I told you I changed, Dissar. I'm not Dilemma anymore. My name is Mystery. Dilemma died on the night of the blue moon, the night she ran from you to be free once again. And she won't be coming back. Ever. Your game is over."

Raising her wand, she aimed it at him. Before anyone could react, he was once again chained to the floor. This time, however, magic sparked over the chains, showing that he wouldn't be able to undo them with any kind of magic. Then, she was unable to take any more. The energy she lost to the ball and the beating of the whip still continuing, she knew she was at the end of her powers.

Mystery walked over to the Dark Magician and kneeled in front of him, effectively stopping the whip from beating her and yet showing Dissar she wouldn't kneel for _him_ anymore. And before she let the darkness took over, she spoke to him.

"I hope I have not disappointed you, Master."

He caught her just in time to prevent her from falling to the ground and picked her up. Then, with his apprentice in his arms, he turned to Dissar. He glared at him.

"The council shall be informed that you possess slaves, Dissar. And since no one but her is able to get you out of those, I guess we shall just have to wait until she regains consciousness for us to take you to prison. Instead, you can spend your time waiting for the council to come. And even though I don't know if you have more slaves, this is enough proof to get you into deep trouble. Just know that I shall enjoy seeing you be punished severely."

Then, he turned around. While Pearl was walking behind him, the mounts growled slightly to get his attention. Without looking around, he waved. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. You will have some company." And with that, he walked inside, leaving Pixie and the Red Eyes Metal Dragon chained up the same way Dissar was.

Gaèll put Mystery in her own bed, after looking at her room surprised. He hadn't realized that she had changed her room this much since he stopped visiting her there sometimes. There were lots of books about magic, and some targets to practise on. Also, there was a huge painting on the wall which had Blackie, Mori, Furry, Pearl, the Baby Dragon and a guy he didn't know and his mount on it.

The young girl, Pearl, was looking at it, smiling. "She drew this herself, you know? It wasn't too long ago when she asked us if we wanted to pose for it. She told us that she always wanted to have us with her in some way, and therefore, she made this. In some ways, I think it's better than reality." When she was thrown a questioning glance, she turned back. "You really have to look at the details carefully, but I once spent a whole day staring at it, so I saw it. Do you see those clouds?" He nodded. "In it is my name, and Neo's, connected by a heart."

Only when she pointed it out did he see it, and he had to admit it was very neat. Pearl continued. "Also, our hands are touching. And the fur of the Ocubeam tells you who painted it. Look, Myst's name is right there."

There was one more thing, but she didn't tell him about that. For that was the part where Blackie and Mori were looking at one another as if they knew something no one else did, and Mori had the small form of the Dark Magician in his eyes. It was something only the painter could understand; if not for the fact that Pearl knew that she had a very big crush on her Master. And if he looked carefully enough, he would notice it anyhow.

Now, they turned back to the bed she was on. The mounts had somehow managed to enter through the window, and something told Gaèll this wasn't the first time they had done that. When everyone was seated, they felt how tired they really were. Performing magic like they had this night was heavy, and even though the mounts hadn't really fought, they had tried to get away from the chains the whole time, tiring them. And, of course, there was the fact that none of them had slept this night.

It was for those reasons that everyone was asleep pretty soon, unconsciously pondering over what would have to happen the next day, and about what had happened before.

…

Lass: I hope you all liked it. Please review. I hope I'll be able to get the next chapter up sooner than I got this one. I think the next chapter will be the last one, or the last but one, unless I get hit by inspiration and know a way to get a whole extra piece to it.


	5. Closure

For the few of you that were actually still waiting for the final chapter: here it is. I'm sure you are all surprised I haven't died yet. Either that or disappointed. I'm extremely sorry for the long wait. Let's just say I now know my weak spots better and am aware that I shouldn't start posting something before it's actually finished, or I risk lack of inspiration somewhere in the middle. Please enjoy this final chapter as much as possible and I hope it was worth the wait.

XXXXX

The next morning, or afternoon, really, Mystery was the first one awake. Surprised, she looked around the room. Both her Master and her friend were sleeping in their chairs, their heads lying on the bed. When the mounts realized she was awake, they nodded, aware of the fact that their approaching her would also wake the two still sleeping.

Carefully, the young girl disentangled herself from the blankets that had wrapped themselves around her, not waking the two using the bed as a pillow. With a small beam, she made sure the Witch of the Black Forest and the Dark Magician would sleep a little longer, allowing her to think about everything on her own. Then, she got out, walking out of the door to go downstairs, knowing the mounts would be there in a bit.

Indeed, they soon came in, jumping her and making her fall to the floor. She laughed, relieved at the simplicity of it all. First preparing their food and then her own, she thought back on what had happened the day before. It had been a heavy day for sure.

She realized she was still quite angry with both her friend and her Master. They hadn't stopped Dissar when he'd been talking to her, which they would have, if they really cared about her as they claimed. Especially her Master could have been more appreciative of what she had done for him! She had saved his life last night, multiple times. Admittedly, he had saved her as well. But that was from something she had gotten herself into in order to save him in the first place.

And then there was the fact that Dissar had been right in one aspect. When she intercepted the attack on her Master, a part of her really wanted it all to end. The memories of her horrible time at his castle remained painful, and the fact that her Master apparently didn't care for her, as well as the fact that her friend hadn't believed her, had caused her to lose hope. Mystery had been happy that her Master would save her, but at the same time, she'd had enough. She would have ended her life in a useful way and no one would ever have known.

Their betrayal stung. They should have stopped Dissar from talking. If they cared about her, they would have. They hadn't.

Now, she was even more tired than she had been before. And as her thoughts fell into a downwards cycle, Mori interrupted. Knocking against her back with his head, he motioned outside. Dissar and that stupid harebrained excuse for a woman would still be out there, tied up. Mystery wouldn't dare visit them alone. Her Master and her friend were obviously not as trustworthy as they pretended to be, preferring to satisfy their curiosity rather than make sure she was safe. That meant she'd probably best wait until a member of the council would arrive. Undoubtedly, that wouldn't take much longer. They should have noticed the disturbance. They would also have known that it would have something to do with the red moon, so they wouldn't send some weak messenger.

As she thought that, she decided it was probably best to wait outside for whoever had been sent to come. On first look, everything seemed peaceful. But she could see Dissar and Pixie talking, probably making up a plan to get out. That, or Dissar berating the woman for failing in her mission. Knowing them, it was probably the last. As there was still a chance that it was the first, however, she sent another sleeping beam at them, making them fall asleep. The Red Eyes Metal Dragon was lying still, awake but not doing anything except glare at her. He went to sleep too. She didn't feel like sitting near a dangerous dragon which didn't like her, even if it was tied up.

"You're the Dark Magician's apprentice?" a voice from behind her suddenly asked. Swiftly, she turned around. There, she saw the Buster Blader on his mount, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"Sir," she said, astounded. If this was the one the council had sent… Suffice to say this was more important than she thought it was. The Buster Blader was the head of the council, their unofficial leader. And now that she thought about it, this _had_ been a battle about the leadership of their world. Then, she remembered that he had asked her a question. "Yes, I'm the Dark Magician Girl" – she still disliked the 'girl' instead of 'woman', but she had to admit she looked more like a girl – "the apprentice of the Dark Magician. It's an honour to meet you, Buster Blader."

He smiled kindly at her nervousness, sliding off the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. "You can call me Vintos," he told her. "If I understood everything right, you saved our whole world from his rule this night."

A bright blush appeared on her face, as well as a bright smile. She liked this man. "Then I insist you call me Mystery. After all, it's practically your rule this world is under."

"Very well, Mystery." The Buster Blader nodded at her, and then turned his attention to the three bound figures on the ground. "And there they are…" Slowly, he approached them. As opposed to when he was talking to the Dark Magician Girl, his eyes were now cold and unforgiving. He cast a few spells on them Mystery did not recognize, then turned back to her.

"Can I ask you a few questions now?" She threw a questioning glance at Dissar, his mount and Pixie. "They can stay there for a while. The spells I cast ensured that they would."

"Please do come in, then." Vintos followed her inside, looking around himself on the way to the kitchen. "I cast a sleeping spell on my Master and my friend, so they won't be down anytime soon, I guess," she told him.

Together, they entered the kitchen, where Mystery grabbed the both of them something to drink. They sat down at the table, facing one another.

"So, how did this all begin?"

With some questions in-between from Vintos, Mystery explained about Pixie coming into their lives, trying to work the smaller apprentice out of the house. She told about finding out that the Wingweaver wanted to kill her Master, and the trouble telling others got her in. Then came what had happened the day before: following Pixie, being sent away and then returning to find she had almost been too late. The fight was described then, Dissar's arriving and the subsequent other fight. Vintos was clearly surprised when he heard about her jumping in the way of the attack, but he remained thankfully silent. Following that was the heavy part, where she told about her period in slavery at Dissar's castle, that hateful time where she had been Dilemma, until she managed to escape.

Finally, the story was over and silence reigned for a while as both of the occupants of the room came to terms with the story that had been told.

The Buster Blader seemed to be considering what he'd heard. Allowing him the time to go over whatever he needed to, Mystery started to clean up the kitchen a bit, making a few preparations for dinner. As they had all been up the whole night last night, she found she had woken at two in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Vintos was considering what he'd heard. It was obvious Dissar deserved a heavy punishment, both for trying to grab the power, for trying to kill others, and for having slaves, which was all forbidden.

That wasn't his greatest point of contemplation. It was what needed to be done with Gaèll and his apprentice. Gaèll hadn't taken good enough care of her, neither before nor in the battle. He noticed that Mystery tried to downplay the betrayal she'd felt, but it was clearly there. She had learned without him instead of from him, and she had been the one that had to save him. It showed multiple poor decisions on the Dark Magician's side, and that was not a good environment for an apprentice, especially one who showed as much promise as Mystery did. Her past had to be considered, too.

It was, however, not hard to see that she cared about her Master. She wouldn't have come back after such treatment if she hadn't cared. And separating them wouldn't be smart in that case.

So he had a problem. He couldn't separate them, but he couldn't possibly keep them together, either.

Realizing he wouldn't come to a decision this way, Vintos resolved to talk to Gaèll about this when he was awake as well. For now, he talked to Mystery a bit more, trying to get some background and trying to get her a little more comfortable around him as well. The small young woman was clearly still impressed by his presence.

They had dinner together, the other half of the food kept warm by a simple spell to make sure it would still be good when Gaèll and Pearl would come down. Mystery preferred not to see them yet, so she left outside to take care of the mounts when the spell wore off and sounds started upstairs.

Both the Dark Magician and the Witch of the Black Forest froze in surprise when they saw the Buster Blader sitting at the kitchen table. He motioned for them to sit down, the plates with food beckoning them.

Sitting down, Gaèll threw a questioning glance at the Buster Blader. "Don't you want anything, Vintos?"

"I have already eaten, Dark Magician."

The formality of the statement clearly threw Gaèll off. Usually, they addressed one another with their first name, instead of their titles. It made him wonder what he had done wrong to deserve the strictness.

Pearl then dared to speak up. "Sir, do you know where Mystery is?" she asked the Buster Blader. His attention on her almost made her shrink back, but she needed to know. When Mystery hadn't been there when she had awoken, it had worried her. When she noticed the mounts missing as well, the worry had lessened. It hadn't disappeared completely, though.

"She preferred not to see you at the moment and has, therefore, left. I'm not sure where she went, but I suggest you do not follow."

Tears appeared in Pearl's eyes at the fact that her friend didn't want to see her, while Gaèll was a bit better at hiding the fact that he shared the sentiment.

The Dark Magician looked at his apprentice's friend. "Miss Pearl, would you mind leaving us to talk? You can eat in the living room, there's a table there, too." The girl nodded and picked up her plate, leaving silently. She had enough to think about on her own, and the two males obviously knew one another.

Once they were alone, Gaèll started talking immediately. "Vintos, what is this about?" he asked.

"I don't know, but perhaps you can explain it to me. What were you thinking, treating your apprentice like that? That is not the way a Master treats the one he needs to teach, needs to take care of. And don't tell me anything about that treacherous girlfriend of yours. Your first concern should have been your apprentice."

Embarrassment filled the Dark Magician. His old friend was right. Mystery should have been his first concern. He had treated her horribly, all on the word of that pitiful excuse for a girlfriend. He shouldn't have believed the Wingweaver in the first place. His apprentice had been with him for long enough to get to know her, to be able to realize that Pixie was the one in the wrong, not Mystery. So many things he hadn't seen before now came to the forefront of his mind, all of the things he'd questioned making sense again. And he was overflowing with shame as he regarded his actions.

Seeing the comprehension flooding his friend's eyes, Vintos looked on in satisfaction. It was the first step on the way to betterment, he thought.

"At the very least," the Buster Blader commented, "you seem to have realized you were wrong. Now, you see where my problem lies. Obviously, you have taken care of your apprentice very insufficiently. That would mean I would have to part the two of you, to find a better Master for her…"

Before he could continue, Gaèll interrupted. "No!" he yelled. "Please, Vintos. Not now. Not after this. I've only just come to realize…" He was unable to finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

The Buster Blader smiled a little at his friend's outburst. "As you would have heard, had you not interrupted me halfway," an embarrassed smile flitted across the Dark Magician's face, "it is also clear to me that you mean a lot to her. Why else would she come back to save you even after the way you treated her? And in that case, it would not be right to part you. So I'm facing a difficult decision here. Besides, I'm quite sure this won't be solved until, at least, she isn't angry with you anymore."

Gaèll frowned. "Do you…" he started hesitantly, because he didn't feel much for another lecture. "Do you know why she's angry with Pearl and me?"

An eye roll was his answer. "You do realize you both would've saved her a lot of pain if you'd stopped Dissar from talking instead of deciding to satisfy your curiosity?"

Flinching, Gaèll realized his apprentice had just cause to be angry with him. He cursed himself for all of the bad decisions he'd made lately, which all had ended up hurting his apprentice. The same apprentice he should take care of.

Now determined, he got up out of the chair he'd been carefully plucking apart over the course of the conversation. "I need to speak to her," he told his friend. Vintos nodded, but he would have done it even if the other hadn't agreed. He needed to make this right, at least a bit, and he knew exactly where to find his errant apprentice.

Inside the stables, he could hear her talking to the mounts there. He saw that the young woman was surrounded by Mori, Furry and Blackie, the three of them appearing to be comforting her. A stab of pain hit his heart at the fact that she needed it in the first place.

"Mystery," he called her softly.

She jumped in surprise at his voice and turned around to face him, her eyes on the ground. "Master?" she asked, unsure at what he was doing here and afraid she'd start yelling at him if she said anything else.

Looking at the girl in front of him, Gaèll wondered how he could have ever doubted her. He cursed himself for doing so as he motioned for her to sit down. Mystery looked as though she was contemplating disobeying, and he almost wished she would, but she sat down eventually. He followed, sitting down as well.

"There's a lot of things I need to apologize for. I know this. There's no way to completely make up for all of the mistakes I've made. I know this as well. But I want you to know, at least, that I'm incredibly sorry for everything, and that I'm willing to do anything to make up for all of it, at least for as far as I can."

Amusing visions of a pink tutu-like outfit were the first that came to mind. Then, rage filled her and she decided that listening to her would have to be part of his making things up to her.

"You bet you've got a lot to atone for! You disregard my training, my warnings, my opinions, me… And all for what? 'Pix'?" The name was spat with obvious loathing. "Are you such an oblivious moron that you can't even see through that horrid piece of excrement? Suddenly, all I see of you is some moody taskmaster that is never satisfied, and even then she's there, sabotaging me and laughing at me behind your back. And you're just blind to it all! Not to mention that horrible trick you played on me with Dissar! No, please, do continue. I love to torture my apprentice with horrid stories about her past, just so I can hear exactly what is going on! Because now that I know I've been played, I just need to know everything. And it's not as though I pretended to care for my apprentice before, so why should I do so now?! Right?!"

She didn't even realize she had begun crying in the middle of her story, but he had. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and pulled her into his arms. At first, she struggled, her small fists hitting his strong chest, but she ultimately quieted. All the way, he held her tightly and rocked her slowly, allowing her to cry.

Eventually, the tears slowed down. No one disturbed them as they sat there, and Mystery was falling to sleep. Gaèll let her, knowing she needed the rest.

He carried her back to the house, where Vintos and Pearl were waiting in uncomfortable silence. Gently, he put her on the couch and then went to sit in the chair nearest to it.

Pearl observed this, smiling to herself. It looked like her friend's dreams could come true after all. It seemed the Dark Magician cared for her, at least, which could easily develop into something more. She sincerely hoped that the Buster Blader would allow them to stay together. It was clear to her that her friend wouldn't want to leave, no matter how angry she was at the moment. And her Master wouldn't just let her go, either.

Vintos hadn't missed this. He had already gathered that Mystery had a crush on Gaèll, and he could see his friend at least appreciated his apprentice more, now. It was just too bad things had to come to this in order for them to be able to admit they cared. He wouldn't separate them. If they worked out their issues, he could see them becoming an amazing team.

Gaèll merely wondered how he hadn't noticed before. When he had awoken, looking at the painting on the wall, he had noticed a detail his apprentice's friend hadn't mentioned. His own form, in the eyes of his apprentice's mount. And now that he knew, he was not going to let this slip away. He noticed things about the young woman he hadn't before, and he was pleasantly surprised. No, he would not let her get away easily. He would do everything he could to make it up to her, and he'd see what would develop between the two of them.

Mystery, in the meanwhile, was sleeping through it all. Unbeknownst to her, she was showing the first sign of a new ability developing: seeing the future through dreams. She was much too involved in dreaming of growing old with her Master, their relationship growing deeper and more loving even with the difficult times that would come along with the good ones, to care about prophetic dreams.

XXXXX

I know, they're not together yet. Evil? Very much. But I just thought it was a bit unlikely that all of a sudden, they'd fall into one another's arms as if nothing had happened. But in the future, as you can see, they will end up together and live happily ever after and so on. Well, I guess that was it. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it!


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